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Council defers Bayou Fountain Economic Development District after landowner objections
Summary
After multiple Deplanter family members and their attorney said they were blindsided by an economic-development district that would include roughly 175 acres of their ancestral land, the Metropolitan Council voted for a 30-day deferral to allow additional outreach and boundary clarifications.
Property owners and family representatives told the council they were not contacted before the Bayou Fountain Economic Development District (EDDD) was advanced and said marketing materials had used their land without permission. Lisa Deler, who said her family owns approximately 57% of the acreage in the proposed district, asked the council to defer the cooperative endeavor agreement and to remove her family’s land from the EDDD.
Charlie Kaplinger and Steve Leon, representing the Deplanter family, described generations-long ownership of the land and said consultants’ feasibility work had recommended securing the land under a letter of intent before seeking approvals. “Their own consultants told them before doing anything else, secure the land,” Leon said, and questioned spending legal and consulting fees for a district built around land that had not been committed.
Councilwoman Jennifer Rocka, who sponsored the cooperative endeavor agreement, told the council that the developer (Mr. Stringfellow, not present) repeatedly warned he had not purchased the property and had told council members so. Rocka said an EDDD does not take property and does not require resident posting the way planning rezonings do; she moved for a 30‑day deferral to give parties time to communicate.
Council also asked the parish attorney to clarify whether undeveloped land would face immediate tax impacts; the parish attorney explained the EDDD levies sales taxes on taxable transactions — not property taxes on undeveloped land — and that undeveloped acreage with no commercial activity would not immediately pay sales taxes under the district.
Why it matters: The item raises questions about notice, property-owner engagement and the limits of EDDD formation. Landowners warned of potential legal remedies if their property was included without consent; the council paused action to allow more conversations.
What’s next: Council approved a 30-day deferral to the second June meeting for item 77; the transcript records public testimony and the deferral motion but does not record subsequent negotiations or amendments.
Sources: Public testimony and council discussion at the East Baton Rouge Parish Metropolitan Council meeting on May 27, 2026.
